Good overview for the novice of the different types of books that fall under the graphic novel umbrella, with useful thoughts on purchasing, displaying and defending this often challenged format. A section on the history of "comics" and the often violent reactions to them is particularly enjoyable. The annotated list might be helpful in choosing some books for a new collection but naturally as soon as it was written, it was out of date. One quibble: The proofreading is poor and the errors offputting; at one point graphic novels are "regulated" to obscure shelves. ( )

Here is a wonderful book for serving the younger set of kids and tweens with a genre they have adopted in droves. Serchay provides a complete guide for building a collection of graphic novels complete with an extensive list of appropriate titles for this age group. We have not seen a better book on the topic and recommend this highly not just for the professional , but as a book to study in a tween group who are entrusted with the responsibility of helping to build this collection. We envision a sort of geek club of readers, sharers, and writers using the Comic Life program on the Internet to produce their own novels. There are, of course, major implications for the writing and language arts goals here that should not be ignored. So often, we think of imposing a collection on a group. In this day and age, it is collaborative building, writing, and critiquing a genre that matters. Highly recommended for teacher librarians of this age group.